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Indian Tourism Directory --» South India Tourism --» Hyderabad Tourism Directory

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Hyderabad Tourism

Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, along with its twin city Secunderabad has over 400 years of history. Hyderabad is a heady mixture of heritage, traditionally hospitality and a thriving software revolution. A revolution that has already attracted Microsoft to set its only overseas base here.

The fifth largest city in India and has a population of over 2.2 million. Hyderabad is famous world over for its fabulous Diamond markets, glass embedded bangles and the delectable Hyderabadi cuisine. It has a Hindu - Muslim culture with a number of monuments of historical importance. Legend says that in 1589 Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah, the fifth ruler of the Qutub Shahi dynasty founded a new city along the banks of river Musi for his ladylove, Bhagmati.

The city was then called Bhagyanagar. Later when Bhagmati entered the royal family, she was honored with the title Hyder Mahal. And Bhagyanagar became Hyderabad. There are no forests in this district, and this district is the Smallest district in Andhra Pradesh and the densest one in the whole State.

India's First Cigarette Charminar was produced from Vazir Sultan Tobacco factory situated at Azamabad area, which has more than a Hundred years of manufacturing experience on this branded Cigarette. Apart from this Many Public Limited Companies like B.H.E.L, H.A.L, DRDO, MIDHANI, NFC, ECIL, CITD, HMT etc are placed in this District.

The major water sources for the twin cities are Singur Project on River Manjeera in Medak district and Osman sagar on River Musi at Gandipet. Hyderabad with its rich cultural backdrop is famous for its Bangles and Ivory products.

Osmania University the Oldest one in Andhra Pradesh established in 1919, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu University, Acharya N.G.Raga agricultural University, Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad University (Central University) are Chief pioneers in educational establishments in the district.

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Places of Interest

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Charminar
The Charminar is as much the signature of Hyderabad as the Taj Mahal is of Agra or the Eiffel Tower is of Paris. It is a magnificent square edifice of granite, built upon four grand arches facing North, South, East and West. These arches support two floors of rooms and gallery of archways. At each corner of the square structure is a minaret rising to a height of 24 meters, making the building nearly 54 meters tall. It is these four (char) minarets (minar) that give the building, its name Charminar. Each minar stands on a lotus-leaf base, a special recurrent motif in Qutub Shahi buildings.

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Golconda Fort
Golconda is one of the famous forts of India. The name originates from the Telugu words "Golla Konda" meaning "Shepherd's Hill". The origins of the fort can be traced back to the Kakatiyas period Golconda was originally a mud fort, which passed to the Bahmani dynasty and later to the Qutb Shahis, who held it from 1518 to 1687 A.D. The first three Qutb Shahi kings rebuilt Golconda, over a span of 62 years. The fort is famous for its acoustics, palaces, factories, ingenious water supply system and the famous Fateh Rahben gun, one of the cannons used in the last siege of Golconda by Aurangzeb, to whom the fort ultimately fell.